The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-05
CHARLESTON ITEMS.
Base Ball Gossip The Desire for a
Union Depot.

Union Depot.
CHARLESTON, June 4.-Very little else
has been thought of or talked of this week
but base ball, the strained situation absorb
! ing most of public attention, The CORE
spondence between President Morrow and
President Hard, in which the intention is
expressed of freezing Charleston out, coming
as 1t did the day after President MoiTow's
invitation to Charleston to stick with the
other four clubs and play the season
out, was like dynamite bomb. 1t has set
the community on fire. Charleston has
| taken very kindly to base ball this season,
owing to the splendid work of the home
team ON the home grounds, and the club is
now playing at profit for the first time
| since It's organization in 1886. The receipts
| since the opening of the League season have
| averaged between 800 and $500 a day after
| paying the guarantee. Last season the
| stockholders lost about 50, 900, but this was
| owing to the fact that the association had
been at the expense of procuring park and
| fencing II up. They have the prospect this
| season OF recovering their lost money and
! making something besides, and they do not
| intend to be frozen out. Charleston has
offered to take the place Of Savannah so far
as the eastern circuit is concerned-that is,
| to give each visiting club eight instead of
| four games. This, it is claimed, will tighten
their expenses of travelling and at the same
time enable the league TO play out the sched
| ule with slight alterations to suit the ext
| gencies of the case The club can easily do
this with the liberal patronage it is now re
ceiving, and will at least insist upon fair
| treatment.
| THE UNION FREIGHT DEPOT QUESTION.
The mercantile community are still agi-
| tatng the question of union freight depot.
| This matter has been laid before the rail
/ road officials who without making anV
definite promises, have intimated that some
! thing might be accomplished if a committee
was appointed to confer with the railway
magnates. Acting upon this hint petition
has been drafted and is now circulating for
| signatures, setting forth the needs of the
| city and praying the establishment of
| union depot on the water front. Should the
petition fail to secure the depot an appeal
will be made to the State Railroad Commits
| sion, which, in the opinion of many mer-
chants, has the power to remedy the evil
complained of.
| THE EARTHQUAKE FUND.
There are prospects of a lively fight be-
tween some soreheads and the City Council
in the near future 1t will be remembered
| that the General Relief Committee, who
were charged with the distribution of the
fund so generously contributed for the relief
of the earthquake sufferers, after repairing
all the buildings that had been damaged,
| had something over 100000 of the fund
left. The total amount contributed aggre-
! gated something over 100000. In the dis
tribution of this fund the committee an
nounced that only the buildings of those
| persons who owned one house would be
repaired the object being, of course, to as
sist only the needy. The applicants were
| not given the money but their houses were
repaired by the committee, who paid the
contractors. 1T may be mentioned in pass
ing that, notwithstanding their caution, one
or two, perhaps a half dozen, persons OBJ
to theml After acting upon all
the claims the committee had some
thing over 100000 of the fund left.
| This amount they decided to give to the
city to be used in rebuilding the hospital
and almshouse both of which were totally
destroyed by the earthquake. The warrant
for this disposition of the fund was found
in resolutions passed by the Relief Com
mittees of Boston, New York, and Phila-
delphia, the largest contributors to the
| fund, in which the wish was expressed
that any surplus left in the hands
| of the Charleston committee might be de
voted to the rebuilding of institutions de
signed for the care of the sick and poor of
| the city With the understanding that this
100000 would be available the city has I'M
dertaken to rebuild the hospital, and for that
purpose has purchased an admirable site on
the Ashley river, paying 100000 for
the same The people of Charleston,
however, are hard to please, and
there are some who are not satifed with
the site selected 1t is now said that they
contemplate applying to the courts for an
injunction to prevent the appropriation of
of the money to the purposes set forth above.
! 1t is difficult to see how these compiainants
can get standing in court seeing that they
did not contribute to the fund, but there is
no doubt of their being able to find LAWYER
to undertake the case, and the papers will
probably be filed at the next sitting of the
| court June 20.
In the meantime Mayor Courtenay, who
has decided to retire from Office when his
| present term expires December next, is
| determined to go ahead with his improve
ments and work has already been com
menced on all the new public buildings. He
| pays no attention TO the threats of the
| cranks but goes on pcrsistently with the
work that he has undertaken and will leave
"A monument which will mark one of the
most progressive administrations in the his
tory of the Old City by the Sea-